What Is Plus Size?

What constitutes plus size?

We have all heard the term ‘Plus Size’ but what does it actually mean? To many retailers ‘plus size clothing’ starts at around a UK Dress Size 12 (equivalent to a USA size 8) but this hardly seems in touch with how plus size women see themselves today.

The good news for women with a fuller figure is that there is now a huge selection of plus size lingerie for them to choose from especially online. Sexy Plus is one of the UK’s leading websites but there are many other websites that specialise in lingerie for the curvaceous woman.

The days of limited choice and high pricing for plus size lingerie really does seem to be over at last.

Here’s a guide to some of the most popular types of sexy plus size lingerie for the fuller figure. We’ll try and give a general overview here and of course all of these items are available in standard sizes as well but the point of this exercise is to confirm that larger ladies can look sexy too!

1) Corset – This is a piece of lingerie that has been helping to give ladies that desired hourglass figure for literally hundreds of years. A Corset will pull in around the midriff and tends to push up the bust, hence highlighting the cleavage.

Not usually underwired but often with slimming boning and in the past would have been laced up at the back, although today a hook and eye back fastenings is more common.

2) Basque – Similar to a corset and many use the same term but technically a basque is different because it tends to be underwired and fastens at the front or maybe the side using a hook and eye closure rather than lace up.

Today corsets and basques are frequently confused and many retailers in fact use the category Plus Size Corsets to list both types of product.

3) Stockings – Thigh High Stockings require a garter belt (also known as a suspender belt) to hold them up. The garter belt goes around the waist over the panties, and has individual garters that extend downwards and clip onto the stockings.

4) Hold Ups – Often referred to as ‘Stay Ups’, these stockings that have an elasticated top or silicone band at the top which is usually cleverly hidden by lace decoration. This means that hold up stockings can be worn without a garter belt.

5) Tights – Known as Pantyhose in the USA. Tights are stockings with a full gusset. Just like a pair of nylon trousers, which are worn over the knickers.

6) Bodystocking – A bodystocking is a piece of incredibly sexy lingerie that is made from the same material as stockings. As well as covering the legs a bodystocking also covers the body, often covering the arms and may be cut away at the back, the front or with an open crotch.

Whichever piece of plus size lingerie you choose there is just as much choice for fuller figure ladies as there is for standard sizes.